Victory in Texas: Lawmakers Gavel Out for This Summer’s Special Session Without Passing Any Anti-Transgender BillsAugust 16, 2017

The eyes of the nation have been trained on Texas for weeks, waiting to see if the state’s legislature would finish what they set out to do during special session: Pass an NC-style “bathroom bill” to legalize discrimination against transgender Texans.

Last night, they failed. Texas’ special session has ended, and no “bathroom bills” passed.

That’s great news—and it also means in Massachusetts, we have to prove ourselves. Next year, Massachusetts residents will vote on a ballot question seeking to repeal #TransLawMA—and when they do, we need to know they’ll vote to uphold transgender protections.

The Texas victory sets a new standard. It is one of the most socially conservative states in the nation—and it just rejected anti-transgender discrimination. For good reason, too: A majority of Texans oppose legalizing discrimination against transgender people.

Massachusetts is no Texas. We know that next year, Bay Staters will never vote to bring discrimination back to the Commonwealth, because we know an even stronger majority of Bay Staters support laws like #TransLawMA to ensure transgender people are protected from discrimination in public places.

But the fact is: We have to mobilize that majority of fair-minded Bay Staters to the polls next year—or #TransLawMA could be repealed. It’s on us to mobilize the voting block we need to win.